Since last Friday, People’s Daily has published a series of opinion articles on the Sino-U.S. trade war. Below are highlights from two of the opinion articles.

In the article it published on July 11, titled “Be wary of the ‘cold war trap’ that US unilateral protectionism has set up,” it attacked the U.S. “not only for seriously jeopardizing the safety of the global industrial chain and value chain, but also for hindering the pace of economic recovery. It (the U.S.) also brings the risk of sliding the normal world economic and trade pattern into trade protectionism and unilateralism in a ‘cold war trap.’” The article called out the following actions that the U.S. has taken in order to “expose the poisons the U.S. brings to international relationships.” It politicizes the trade issue; it has resumed the 232 investigation; withdrawn from the TPP, the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Iran Deal; it has openly violated World Trade Organization regulations and has used the investigation results from 301 to impose tariffs on other countries; it expanded the definition of national security and frequently seizes foreign investments in the high-tech field.

In a report published on July 9, titled “The U.S. ‘Zero Sum Trade Theory’ is a kind of evil that harms the world,” it claimed that the trade war the U.S. launched against China has drawn criticism from the international community. “The zero sum trade war game that the U.S. is playing is against the law. It not only impacts Sino-US economic and trade cooperation, but also brings great uncertainty to the entire world economy.” The article claimed, “Under its zero sum mentality, ‘America First’ is evolving into extreme self-interest.” The article stated that in 2017, the trade between China and the U.S. reached US$583.7 billion. It was 233 times what it was after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979. The article further claimed that, “The huge Chinese market that the world values is increasingly becoming an important business growth point and profit consideration in the global strategy of U.S. companies. … Let other countries sacrifice their own core interests to pay for the unreasonable demands of the U.S. This is a backward and outdated concept of trade.”